


Out of Stock

by Fantau



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Flowers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, fluff is my favorite, i want them to be happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-02-22 17:03:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13171326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantau/pseuds/Fantau
Summary: Every so often a sun-glassed man will come into Marinette's flower shop and buy every purple flower on the shelves. She thinks she might lose her mind if she doesn't find out why.





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey,” she says simply to the shop patron, who she can barely see through arms full of purple flowers. It's rather unprofessional but he’s been coming in for about three years now. He comes in, wearing shades that are too large, buys all the purple flowers in stock, and then leaves. It's a pain in the ass, to order and restock only purple flowers… but he always tips her for the help of carrying them to his car. “You remember we have baskets, right?” She asks, as she does every time. 

 

He shifts the pile… or tries to, but ends up dumping half of them on the counter and leaving a heavy spray of pollen and broken off leaves on the surface… as he does every time.

 

“I remember.” he says, as if that's a reply. As if that's an actual sentence.

 

He half looks at her through the half arm of flowers and nods with a little bit of a smile. The well-manicured fingers of his left hand press into the loud crinkling newspaper the flowers are wrapped in, and his right hand digs into his pocket and pulls out his wallet, tossing it on the counter.

 

“Right, third pocket.” Marinette says before he can and she flips open the wallet with one finger, thumbing past an ID -pushed too far down in the pocket for Marinette to even learn his name- some store card, and a torn photograph poorly concealed behind it before pulling his credit card and swiping it into the machine. She passes him the pen, and he blindly signs the line and presses ‘NO RECEIPT ’.

 

Instead of asking ‘would you like help taking those to your car’ again Marinette just picks up the half of flowers he set on the counter and walks around to his side of the counter. 

 

“Thank you.” he comments, muffled by the petals in his mouth.

 

“No problem.” She answers, muffled by the petals in her mouth.

 

Out in the mostly empty parking lot she helps him set the flowers in the back seat , (why he doesn't just ask for a box is beyond her.) and brushes her hands on her apron. Still, when she closes his car door yellow fingerprints are apparent against the black paint.

 

“Thank you for coming.” she says. Though, she couldn’t care less if the shaded train wreck came into her store again or not. “Have a nice day.”

 

“Thanks! See you soon!” he says as he climbs into the driver's seat.

 

Marinette brushes the backs of her fingers through her hair, and walks into the shop without turning around.

 

The lack of classes that day had Marinette feeling relaxed, which is probably the only reason she hadn't pummeled him with his own bouquet. Those were her flowers, her babies. He wanted all of them?

 

Marinette enjoys sending the flowers to a good home… most of the time. She always imagines them putting a smile on someone's face that day. Maybe someone who needs a smile. But him?

She can even barely imagine him putting them into water.

 

She doesn't deal with too many other customers that day, aside from Chloe, who buys green flowers to match her eyes and, unlike middle school, addresses Marinette with some form of decency, and Mr. Ramier, who buys some blue dyed daisies to put on his table.

She spends the rest of the time preparing arrangements for events, or leaning on the counter staring sadly at her lack of purple flowers.

 

Working at the flower shop started with wanting a break from the bakery and quickly turned into a passion. Flowers relaxed her, and the smell in the air made her feel more positive. Running the shop during college has been (mostly) a relaxing way to make money between classes and trying to jump start an online shop for her fashion. She technically works for the school, who use their large botany and popular agriculture department to give students experience working ‘in the field’ some of them set up stalls in local farmers markets, others sell their crops to small time grocery stores, who employ them. 

 

Marinette works in the flower shop, selling the hard work of those in the greenhouse, who probably plan to actually go into botany. Marinette is happy with her spot, taking two or three plant based classes, submitting experiments and hypothesis about what soil combinations work best, and quietly sitting, surrounded by flowers.

  
  


Until he came in. 

 

The owner of the shop warned her about the customer, and had a little bit of a twitch in her brow when she did it. He comes in every couple of weeks to buy all the purple flowers he can get his hands on, and leaves. He never makes a comment on what he’s doing with them, never laughs or smiles about the amount, just buys them… like buying dozens of them at a time is acceptable. Does he have a budget for the amount of money he spends on flowers? Is he pining after some girl extra hard? What does he do with all those flowers? She lets it rest, and lifts her sleeves from the counter to find she forgot to wipe up the pollen mess the man had made, and makes a frustrated noise in her throat.

 

Later in the day, as Marinette listens to the clock tick the last few minutes of 3 pm, she sweeps the floor, lets the owner know about the lack of purple flowers, and fetches Tikki from a Hibiscus pot.

 

The kwami rests sleepily on her shoulders as she makes her trip to the subway.

 

“Did he do it again?” Tikki asks, the thought of ‘him’ instantly crushing the bright thoughts of having dinner with Alya. 

 

With their jobs and college hanging out is difficult, unfortunately for Alya all she gets to hear about is Marinette's disdain for the purple-flower-taking-punk that never says her name, never apologizes for the mess, and never learns.

 

“YES.” Marinette exclaims, putting her hands to her head and giving her hair a bit of a tug. “ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY! JUST WHY. I JUST- i just want to know why. Why do you do this?”

 

Tikki giggles, and flies down into Marinette’s bag as they enter the subway.

 

“Girl.” Alya laughs, in her hand what is probably the third cup of coffee that day. “Do you know what you look like?”

Marinette furrows her brows, and purses her lips. Even after work she thought she still looked pretty alright. 

 

“Does my outfit not fit the place we’re going?”

 

“You’re wearing your apron, and you still have pollen in your hair.”

 

“No...” Marinette moans quietly when she looks down and confirms it. She shoves past Alya into the flat and heads straight to the bathroom where she looks in the mirror as she undoes her high bun, putting a hand into her hair. She notices that it's covered in pollen far too late, and slumps down, hanging her head in the sink. “It’s all his fault you know.” she comments.

 

Alya takes it in stride and lays on the couch, balancing her cup of coffee on her chest.

 

“Him again?” 

 

“YES! He always comes in and-”

 

“Buys all the purple flowers… I know darlin.”

 

“And makes a mess! I don’t roll in the stuff all day you know.” Mari admonishes. 

 

“Could’ve fooled me.” She gets in response. 

 

The black haired girl groans. She’s combing through her hair with her fingers, (uselessly) when she feels her spite for the man swell up again. 

 

“Do you even know what I have to go through every time? Alya? Do you know?”

 

“Yes I do babe, I know your pain.”

 

“I don’t think you do. That’s why you’re LAUGHING AT ME. STOP IT!” Marinette turns off the water with an angry hit to the faucet. “Tell me! Tell me my process if you know so well.”

 

“You have to call the schoo-”

 

“ _ I HAVE TO CALL THE SCHOOL _ .” Marinette starts. 

 

Alya, knowing better, leans back on the couch and allows the rant to continue.

 

“And I have to tell them ‘HEY THE DUDE TOOK ALL THE FLOWERS AGAIN’ And that  _ bitch _ on the other end is always like ‘Oh yeah let me place the order so you can plant a new round on Monday’.  _ ME! ME ALYA! _ I’M NOT EVEN TAKING BIOLOGY OR GOING INTO BOTANY. AND I HAVE TO PLANT THE FREAKIN FLOWERS. HOW ABOUT YOU GET SOME OF YOUR NERDS TO PLANT THEM HUH LADY?”

 

“Nerds, Marinette?” Alya asks, biting her bottom lip to keep her laughter in.

 

“ _ NERDS, ALYA _ ! AND THEN- AND Then.” Marinette takes a deep breath. “And then guess what I have to do. I have to go in and plant the goddamn flowers I have to cultivate and nurture the objects of my anger I have to raise the babies he’s going to abandon and let die.”

 

“To be fair all flowers will die…”

 

“Then I have to set  _ my babies _ up in the store so Mr. Purple Plant Eater can look at all the purple plants he's going to  _ EAT _ .” 

 

Alya sits up from the couch and approaches her friend, gently setting her hands on the girls shoulders. 

 

“You need to chill out girl, tonight it's just me and you. Eating dinner, having a good time. No bad plant man anywhere. Okay? Wipe him from your mind. Can you do that?”

 

“Wipe him from my mind… okay, yeah I can do that.”

 

Alya grins, heads to her closet, and brings back a yellow dress. 

 

“It will match the flower dust!” 

 

Marinette looks at it, then at Alya, then into the mirror, and begrudgingly accepts. 

 

Walking into the restaurant, Marinette is starting to feel like no one will notice the oddity of the pollen on her. She smells like flowers, Tikki doesn't seem to mind it, and no one on the subway said anything about it. Alya is dressed in a blue, low-cut surplice dress with a low cut that looks amazing on her hips. 

 

Marinette feels good, confident in her clothes. It’s been at least a month since she’s last been out with her best friend and she’s missed it. Something about the other woman's aura makes her confident. 

 

The host sits them down and passes them their menus, and informs them that their waiter will be there shortly. 

 

Alya smiles, then places her hand on Marinette’s 

 

“See, I told you it would be fine, you look great.”

 

“You too.” 

 

“Welcome to  Chez L'Ami Jean, thank you for joining us this evening, I’m Clair and I will be attending you, how may I help-” quick as lightning, the server pulls a handkerchief from her apron pocket and sneezes into it. “Excuse me. Can I start you off with some drinks?”

 

“Can I get a Black Rose? And one for the lady too.” Alya asks, the waitress writes in her note pad.

 

“And some water, please!” Marinette inserts. 

 

“Of course.” Clair answers, she sneezes again, and walks off towards the double doors of the kitchen.

 

“Ladybug and Chat Noir day is next week-” Alya starts off right away, as soon as Clair is out of earshot “And the blog is going crazy- apparently there's going to be a celebration in the park and they’re supposed to show up but you know how often that works out…”

 

Marinette had forgotten. She doesn’t know how she’d forgotten, as her boss has had her arranging styles for Ladybug and Chat Noir themed bouquets for days now.

 

“-And guess who’s DJ-ing it?”

 

“Ni-”

 

“Nino!” Alya exclaims, grabbing her best friends hands. 

 

“That’s really exciting! I’m so happy for him.” Marinette says. Nino had been a friend since middle school, and had been working himself to death to get opportunities like this. She sends him a quick congratulatory text “I can't believe I forgot, you know the flower shop is selling special bouquets… could you do a bestie a favor and put them on the Ladyblog.” Mari asks.

 

It’s shameless… for more than one reason. But Marinette figures a little bit of extra action in the flower shop couldn’t hurt anyone.

 

“You can count on it, and save me one. Just send me pictures tomorrow and I’ll put them up.” Alya assures, sounding excited about them

 

“You’re the best.”

 

“Here are those Black Roses for you, and here's the water.” Clair walks back to them, setting the drinks down but looking like she just cried, the end of her nose is turning a little red and a flush has come over her cheeks. 

 

“Are… you okay?” Alya asks, looking up at the waitress. 

 

“Oh yeah, I’m alright, my allergies just started acting up. I have  _ no _ clue why.” The waitress waves her hand as if to dispel the problem.

 

Marinette sinks into the fabric of her chair, and puts her hands over her face. The toe of her black sling-back heel kicks into Alya’s shin. 

 

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear, are they letting you go home?” 

 

“Oh yeah, I just had to deliver your drinks, please dine with us again, I’ll make up for this time.”

 

Clair smiles, winks, then sneezes -which kinda destroys the confidence the wink provides- and walks off.

 

“ALYA!” Marinette whisper shouts. “Why couldn’t we go to a place with flowers on the table? So THIS didn’t happen?”

 

“Honey, we can’t afford a place with flowers on the table, drink your cocktail.” Alya waves a hand at her friend and Marinette takes a sip, shaking with embarrassment.

 

“Anyway are you coming with me?”

 

“Coming with you? What? Where?” Marinette asks.

 

“The LB party! Lets hang out! Have some fun” Alya jams her fork forcefully in the air. “It's been so long!” 

 

Marinette scratches her hair, her face taking on a sheepish look.

 

“I don’t-” She starts.

 

“No. No you’re not backing out this time. You’re coming, you have to.”

 

“But-” 

 

“No!” Alya interrupts. “No! I’m coming to get you from work, you’re going to put on your cute clothes and you’re coming to this party with me!”

 

“... do I have a-”

 

“NO!” the fork held hostage in the redheads hand is pointed at Marinette now, and the girl looks anxiously around the restaurant. Alya straightens, and sets her fork down on her plate. “You always bail out on me, I miss you, girl. I want my two favorite people back.”

 

The guilt that Marinette commonly shoves down into the soles of her boots comes rearing back up and sinks its teeth directly into her.

 

Being ladybug plus school plus a job does not leave much room for socialization. It seems that every time here or Alya had an open slot something would come up. An akuma, an emergency call from Chat. Papillion, the ass, takes up anything left of her schedule. And her best friend? Alya? Left questioning usually… why Marinette is late, why she canceled.

 

“Yeah okay…” Marinette says, digging herself into a hole. “I’ll meet you at the party, can we swing that?”

 

“Nope!” Alya says. “I’m picking you up, like a date. We’re going on a straight up date.”

 

So now Marinette has a ‘straight up date’ and her previous date made her too late for the last train. After the food they went back to Alya’s house where Marinette collapsed from exhaustion and woke up at 1 in the morning

Her best friend was already passed out in her own bed, so Marinette left her a note, and started the walk home from Alya’s apartment. It wasn’t very long, and Marinette wasn't scared, but the streets seemed to grow darker with every step she took. 

 

“What’s a girl like  _ mew _ doing out on a night like this?” Marinette jumps a mile into the air and her head snaps upwards. The brightness of the streetlight blocks the person on top of it but there’s only one cat who would make a terrible pun like that. 

 

A cat that she had hoped she wouldn't have to see today actually. Though, usually an akuma is what brings them running into each other… so she’s thankful for that.

 

“What are you doing out so late?” she asks. The figure swings down from the light post with one hand, landing in front of her crouched, and then slowly unfurling as if to accentuate his height.

 

“I could ask you the same thing.” 

 

“Well I just came from a friends house. What’s your excuse?” She walks past him, trying especially hard to put her nose in the air. But she knows he’ll follow anyway. 

 

He catches up to her, and shortens his stride to keep pace. 

 

“I’m a hero, do I need an excuse to patrol at night? Rescuing helpless citizens?”

 

“Bothering helpless citizens.” Marinette replies. Chat hisses through his teeth, but it ends with a laugh. 

 

“Scathing, princess. Absolutely scathing.” Chat replies. Marinette turns to the right, and he walks a few steps past before jogging back. “I figure that anyone, even someone as upstanding as yourself, could sometimes use an escort home.” he answers.

 

To be fair, she doesn’t think its a bad idea, watching over those who walk alone at night. Maybe she needs to take some of his advice. Find another reason to explore Paris, assure citizens of their commitment. 

 

“What does that mean for Ladybug. Is she slacking off?”

“Of course not!” Chat proclaims, placing an offended hand to his chest. “My lady takes her beauty sleep very seriously. How dare you challenge her ability.” Chat uses the tip of a single claw to poke her in the forehead, and Marinette snorts.

 

“I knew you would say something like that.” Mari answers. 

  
  


Her apartment isn’t too much further away, and they come by it quickly. She stands under the awning and shrugs, pulling the door.

 

“This is my stop. Thank you for the escort but i’ll have you know I am qualified to protect myself.”

 

“Oh I know.” Chat answers. “‘Tis I who was being escorted.” 

 

“You know it. Goodnight, Chat Noir.” She takes half a step inside before he replies

 

“Goodni- wait, Princess?” Chat sniffs, “Why do you smell like flowers?”

 

Marinette feels her entire face go red, even her ears feel warm and her anger rises with it. 

 

“I said goodnight, Chat Noir.” she grits out and slams the door shut.

 

He’s really not that bad, just too observant for his own good.

 

Her apartment is on the top floor of a 7 floor building, and the elevator is busted. Her walls are decorated with different posters, Jagged stone, Rose In Good Faith, The Tourist. How cheap it is, is not immediately noticeable, but look to close at the paint, or the tiles on the kitchen floor or the spots where the paint is just barely chipped off and it becomes clear that Marinette is not the richest of people. It's a place she can afford however, and the utilities work and it offers a sense of privacy. 

 

She had originally planned to room with Alya, but Alya has a boyfriend, and a rather active bedroom life that would be difficult to schedule around. So her own place it is.

 

Marinette opens her bag and watches as Tikki flits immediately to a bowl of cookies on the counter.

 

“Night Tikki.” She murmurs, dropping her bag on the floor and dropping face first onto the couch.

 

“Marinette?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Don't you have homework?”


	2. Unfair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party doesn't go as planned, or at least, if Marinette had planned it, it wouldn't have gone like this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Beta is sick and couldn't help me out :( send well wishes for her please. The person I asked to edit this chapter didn't seem to like doing it too much.

He's in the shop again, looking at all of the purple flowers as if he won't buy all of them. 

It feels like the worst thing to happen today. She just replanted the new stock a week ago, she's had an influx of customers due to the holiday, which would hopefully increase the overall patronage to the shop. He cannot take all the purple ones.

 

“Wait!” She fumbles over the words she wants to say. Attempting to think of a nicer way to say what she needs to, “I... today.” She takes a deep breath and sees the eyebrows of the man raise under his shades. “Please don’t take all of them today.” she says.

 

He seems visibly taken aback and shifts to the other foot, opening his mouth then closing it, pushing up his sunglasses and then shifting again.

 

“I didn’t uh…”

 

“You can take the Bellflower, even the Irises! But please at least leave a couple Hydrangeas.” 

Marinette is shocked to notice that her voice broke in the middle of her speech. “You can pick them up tomorrow?”

 

The man stays frozen for a moment, picks up one of the Ladybug themed bouquets, then gives a smile with a set of perfect teeth, and says 

 

“This will be all...”

 

Mari stares at the Ladybug bouquet, and much to her distaste, feels a bit of warmth grow in her cheeks.

 

“You didn’t want the..” she trails off, feeling stupid.

 

“Heh… not.. Uh not today.” he laughs. “Sorry for the trouble.”

 

“It… s. Uh. None at all.” She tears her eyes away from the out of place red  Anemone, Zinnia, and Poppy flowers. “I just want the customers to know we do in fact have purple flowers.” she gives a weak laugh and when she takes the card from his hand she lowers her head and keeps her gaze firmly on the register. Refusing to look at him even as she gives it back.

 

Is it odd to think she hadn't even considered him being a fan, hadn’t ever thought of him even knowing who Ladybug was?

Of course it didn't get him entirely off of the hook- Marinette was intent on still maintaining a firm dislike for him.

The movie star smile wasn't helping much.

 

She finishes swiping and hands him his card back. 

“Have a nice day.” she says, he picks up his flowers and turns towards the door.

 

“Happy Heroes’ day!” he shouts on the way out.

 

She coughs instead of replying and as soon as he’s gone she melts onto the counter, a sense of Déjà vu washes over her. His smile, the way he decided to turn on his charm like a lightbulb, it all felt terribly familiar. It somehow makes her even more angry.

 

“Marinette?” Tikki asks, floating over. She settles herself on the counter, “What was that?”

 

“Th-That- that- THAT JERK!” Marinette finally yells, pounding both fists on the counter. “Who exactly does he think he is? Coming in, flashing his best smile and expecting me to melt onto the floor just because it perfectly shows off his jawline?” 

 

“It looks like you did.” Tikki laughs.

 

“I didn- I wouldn- he-. Shut up.” Marinette sinks down, covering her face with her arms. “It's unfair…” She groans lowly. 

 

She keeps herself busy running the shop, doing everything she can to make all of her flowers perk up more than usual. Her high spirit is a facade, one that she loses dedication for as the hours wear on. Alya’s advertisement proves useful, what feels like hundreds of people rushing the shop to buy the bouquets through the day. By mid afternoon Marinette is already spending most of her time in the back wrapping up new bouquets and trying desperately to avoid thoughts of the party coming up.

 

It’s not too difficult, throwing herself entirely into her work and letting the hours slip by. Tikki stays huddled up in the Poinsettia behind the counter due to the large amount of customers. 

 

“Hello?” a small voice asks, Marinette peeks her head from the back, expecting to find one girl, instead finding 15 all pushing themselves through the door, and gazing with amazement around the shop, until their eyes lock on a particular display. 

 

It’s three buckets filled with Chat noir bouquets, not flashy, but stacked so they look like they spill from the top of the counter and tumble into a bunch on the floor. She’s rather proud of the way she set it up, so she feels that the gasp she gives when their greedy hands tug roughly at the blooms is justified. 

 

“We would like all of the Chat bouquets you have.”

 

“Well- I would.. Uh.”

 

“Wait. Wait.” one of them pipes up, pushing from the back of the group. “I worry what you just heard was ‘Give us a lot of Chat Bouquets.’ What she said was ‘Give us all of the Chat bouquets you have.’ Are there more in the back?” Only then does Marinette notice they’re all wearing black shirts with green paw prints…

 

Oh, she knows who they are.

 

A few years ago a few people complained that the ladyblog never updated on Chat Noir, more joined in and eventually a rival blog ‘Cat Chat’ was made. 

 

Marinette didn't mind it, and even checked it every now and then until it became so  _ anti ladybug _ . They started cutting her out of reports completely, saying Chat battled the villains alone, it became so biased and irritated with her that it lost popularity quickly, but those who did follow it were like a cult. 

 

She rung all of them up all and all they took 20 bouquets, Marinette happily kept the premade ones in the back to herself. All and all, they spend enough on the flowers to make Marinette not mind them walking in.

 

“So.” one of them starts. “We have information that says you were seen walking with Chat Noir last night.” they lean forward. Marinette laughs in response, but she feels the beginnings of a headache strung between her temples.

 

“Well, sometimes when you’re out late he’ll patrol around and keep you safe…” 

 

“Really??” They’re too eager and Marinette realizes her mistake too late.

 

“BUT I don't suggest it!” she rushes to add. “It's too dangerous to go out on your own and there's so many of you and Paris is just well..  _ So big.  _ Really he’s only one hero so-”

 

“Oh of course.” the front girl assures, “We would never put ourselves in danger- we were just wondering… Thank you!” They all file out of the door, talking excitedly about their flowers. 

 

Marinette knows its a lie, they’re journalists - _ in a sense _ \- and just like Alya they’re very likely to get themselves in trouble for their hobby.

 

But there’s very little she can do about it, except keep an eye out for them as Ladybug, maybe join her partner on one of his late night patrols. 

 

When the shop closes and Marinette takes a few steps outside; Alya is already waiting near the doors, inspecting her red and black dotted nails. 

 

“Heh…” Marinette laughs, and nudges Tikki down into the Chat Noir themed bouquet she’s holding. “You… you weren't kidding were you?”

 

“Nope!” Alya chirps, and happily takes the Ladybug themed flowers from her best friend. “We’re on a date now! And I’m getting you dressed up, and taking you to a party, and dancing the night away with you- so you can’t slip away from me!”

 

Alya’s nearly-evil plan sounds far too chipper in the happy voice she’s using, but Marinette is already thinking of ways to slip away unnoticed during the course of the evening. Ladybug can’t very well miss an event that features her- last time she did it produced an akuma that got her partner into a whole lot of trouble. 

 

She can’t ask to go to the bathroom, Alya could just come with. She can’t feign sickness or an injury…

 

“OH MY GOD!” Marinette feels a hand grab her wrist and pull her forward. “Why did you just stop walking?! What is wrong with you!” Marinette looks at a shocked Alya and glances around at the uncaring riders of the subway.

 

“Sorry, I was thinking about something else.” Marinette answers. Alya rolls her eyes in response before she checks the screen of her phone and then looks back at her best friend. 

 

“Well don’t. Think of what you’re going to wear. Because your place is coming up.”

  
  


“It’s just casual, right?” Marinette asks, and despite Alya’s answer of ‘yes’, she continues putting her hair up in curls. Tikki is still inside the bouquet, Marinette thought it’d be uncomfortable but the Kwami had fallen asleep in the nest of leaves and stems. “What are you wearing?”

 

When Marinette peeks out of the bathroom and Alya is on the phone typing to someone unknown, but stops to send a small smile her way. 

 

“If Im Ladybug, will you be my Chat?”

 

Marinette thinks, tosses two bottles of black nail polish and one bottle of green at Alya before doing the finishing touches in her hair.

 

“I could make that work.”

 

The outfit ends up being pretty simple: a lime green shirt, with a black puff sleeve jacket. A pair of ripped black jeans and a paw print painted on her cheek. Alya does her nails for her, black with small green pawprints on the thumb. 

When she’s done, she takes a twirl in front of her full length mirror and cinches a belt onto her pants to look like his tail for good measure.

 

“Alya? What do you think?”

 

When Marinette turns to see Alya holding up a headband with cat ears on it. Mari feels herself blush. 

 

“Where did you find those?”

 

“Oh I don't know, somewhere in your jewelry box.” Alya grins like the cheshire cat, “I’ve no idea why you were trying to hide them.”

 

“They’re embarrassing.” Marinette comments, but her friend saunters up and puts the band on her head anyway. 

 

“You know everyone is going to be wearing them, it's really nothing.”

 

What Alya ends up wearing is much more grandeur, she clearly custom ordered most of her outfit. A red nylon jacket with black spots and black fitted cuffs. Along with a black collar that popped up around her neck. From her brow bone to her cheekbone is covered by soft red makeup, and small dots that remind Marinette of freckles. Her pants are black pleather with exaggerated red stitching up the side.

 

Alya applies her own red lipstick before stopping to put a bright green matte on her best friend despite the protests. 

 

“It’s too bright, doesnt fit.”

 

“If you didn't like if you wouldn't have stayed still.” Alya retaliates.

 

“No I just know better than to fight you.”

 

“Then you shouldn't start now, huh?” Alya lets Marinette go and pats her cheek. “I promise, I love you. But if we’re gonna dress up we might as well go all out, yeah?”

 

“I suppose.” 

  
  


The party takes place just as the sun goes down, the stage is set up in the same park as the Chat Noir and Ladybug Statue. 

People are already walking around with drinks, and Mari can't tell if the city provided alcohol or if everyone brought enough of their own to share. Many people are wearing club going clothes, and will probably be regretting it as the night drags on. No matter how good your legs look, stilettos and grass will never mix. That much doesn't surprise her, what  _ does _ surprise her is the amount of cosplay going on. To be fair her and Alya are standing on the line between cosplay and casual but there are plenty of people who went all out. The mask, the yo-yo, the earrings, the hair, men and women alike dressed up as Ladybug. The same went for Chat Noir. There were dozens of people walking around, taking pictures with who they believe to be the best version of the superheros. Or maybe they believe that someone in this crowd is  _ actually _ a hero. Marinette’s glad for now, it might keep people from thinking Ladybug has ditched.

 

In the middle of the entire fray, placed right up at the forefront is Nino, stood behind the widest turntable Marinette has ever seen. They booked him at the beginning, when there would be less people. Nino wasn't well known enough to perform at the height of the party, but this was by far the biggest gig he had. The look of concentration on his face told Marinette he didn't want to mess it up. 

 

Alya leads her through the crowd as if she were born to be in events this big, and confidently tugs her friend to the stage. 

 

“NINO!” Alya yells, although Marinette believes it to be a fruitless effort. She yells again and somehow through the talking, the music and the  _ giant _ headphones Nino hears her. 

 

He presses a button, and then swoops down five steps of the stage to grab her waist and kiss her.

 

“Babe I’m so glad you could make it!” he yells and kisses her again. 

 

“I brought Marinette!” Alya responds. Nino leans past her, and plants two kisses on Mari’s cheeks. 

 

“It’s been too long!” he greets.

 

Marinette smiles and despite the ringing in her ears yells back.

 

“I’ve missed you!” 

 

They talk for a bit, Nino hasn’t attended college, leaving his parents disappointed. He’s not making enough from his music to keep him afloat, so he’s picking up night shifts cleaning a grocery store. It’s not his dream job, but his headphones are always on. She tells him a bit about the flower shop and the  going ons within her classes. Sadly, she isn't able to get much out.

 

Something about the beat of the music catches Nino’s attention and Marinette thinks it sounds the same as the last 40 beats- but Nino is giving them both half hugs before jogging up to the stage after promising to meet them when his set is through. 

 

Alya leads her towards a bar, which is not stocked with nearly enough alcohol to satiate a crowd this size and they lean against it. 

Marinette's just happy to have her back against something. Her best friend buys them both drinks, and they lean against the counter. As more and more people pack in, flowers in vases and buckets are starting to crowd around the statue of her and Chat Noir. Not all of them are from her shop, some are simple singular roses, a few are not standard to the color scheme at all, but plenty of them bear the sticker with the  _ Ivy League  _ logo. 

 

“Do the flowers mean anything?” Alya asks her suddenly after the  _ Cat Chat _ members dump blooms from not only her shop, but at least three others around the city at the foot of the statue.

 

“What? What do you mean?”

 

“Oh, flower symbolism. Apparently there's a meaning to every flower, and every emotion you want to convey corresponds to a flower.”

 

“Is there one for ‘Get over yourself’?” Mari asks as she motions to the cult of girls and a few guys walking away from the statues. 

 

“Well…” Alya clicks through a couple screens on her phone before falling silent for a couple of moments. “Yellow Carnations signify disdain.”

 

“That’ll do it.” Marinette mutters. 

 

Eventually Nino steps down from the stage and approaches them with his arm around a friend of his. 

 

“Adrien!” Alya practically yells, rushing forward and hugging the blond. “How are you?” 

 

“.. Alright. You know it's been awhile since I've been to one of these.. Parties.” he shifts the ladybug flowers, the ‘Ivy League’ sticker in plain view.

 

“Well at least you aren't the center of attention this time…” she replies. “This is my friend…”

  
  


Marinette takes a look at Adrien, who’s scratching the back of his neck and smiling at whatever Alya is saying. To her horror she recognizes him just as he looks straight towards her.  

 

“E-Excuse me!” she says, grabbing Alya firmly by the arm and tugging her a couple feet away. “ADRIEN AGRESTE?” she pretty much yells into her best friends ear, thankful that the continuing music blocks the other two from hearing. “YOU MEAN THE ADRIEN AGRESTE THAT I HAD  _ POSTERS OF? _ THE ONE I HAD A CRUSH ON?”

 

“That was back in highschool, it’s hardly an issue anymore.” Alya replies. Marinette feels her face grow warm, and slaps her hands over her cheeks. “Oh my god.” Alya says. “Oh my god oh my god OH MY GOD!” she pulls Mari’s hands away from her cheeks, and laughs. “I’m gonna hook you up.” 

 

“What?! No!” Marinette replies but Alya tugs them back to the boys before she can fit a word in sideways. 

 

“Marinette was just telling me how she thinks you and me deserve some alone time Nino.”

 

“But we-” Nino starts. Alya makes a subtle movement, and Nino straightens up like a board. Whatever she’s doing to get him to comply, Marinette can’t see it. 

 

“You’re right, we should go dance.” Alya leads him away throwing a ‘see you later’ over her shoulder. Marinette feels herself shrink into her jacket. 

 

“I’m Adrien.” He starts, taking the spot where Alya was leaning against a wall, only a few scant steps away from the bar that  _ surely _ has a drink to take this pain away. 

 

“I-I’m Marinette.” She sticks out her hand as if he’s going to shake it, as if that's something you do. Her mortification is so intense, she immediately starts looking for ways out. Moving to hold the black and green bouquet with both hands to avoid anymore events.

“Do...” She looks around in panic trying to think of a way to escape her situation as soon as possible. “Do you want a drink?”

 

“O-Oh yeah, sure!” Adrien starts walking to the bar but Marinette taps his arm before he can order. She points across the park, where a table full of drinks from different party goers has been set up. 

 

“There’s probably some- uh some b-better drinks that way.” she fakes a laugh, tries to seem normal, and Adrien surprisingly smiles back. 

 

“You’re right, let's go!” he says, and starts walking through the large crowd surrounding the dance floor.

Marinette takes her chance, shortening the length of her strides and going slower until she can just barely see the top of his head. She feels overwhelmed and lost for a moment, unsure how she’s going to be able to push her way out of the mass of bodies. But it still feels better than the alternative, sticking with him and embarrassing herself. 

 

“Marinette?” she hears him call. She ducks herself a little lower down, hoping that maybe her dark outfit would keep her from standing out. “Marine-ah!” she feels a hand grab her wrist and start tugging her along. 

 

They make it to the table, Marinette cursing herself all the way until Adrien is handing her a can with his open hand, rather, he tries to but one of her hands is holding flowers and the other is occupied by him. He abruptly drops her other hand, grinning sheepishly. She sets her flowers on the table and takes a drink, wondering if getting plastered would make things better or worse.

 

“My bad, didn't wanna lose you.” he says. Marinette chokes on her drink, coughing it  _ right _ onto his shoes at the line. Getting drunk is the more appealing of two actions for sure.

 

Marinette’s face goes beet red and she immediately drops to her knees to try and amend the situation.

 

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry- I can’t even-”

 

“Mari-”

 

“-I did that! That was so uncool of me an-”

 

“It was an acci-”

 

“Should I get some napkins? I can-”

 

“Marinette!” Adrien sets his hands on her shoulders and gently urges her to stand. “It was probably going to happen at some point tonight. Might as well have been you.”

 

Regardless of the reassurance Marinette looks at the floor like she might sink into it if she pressures it hard enough.

  
  


“So…” Adrien says, motioning to the ears on her head and clearly looking for some way to move past the awkward silence. “Chat Noir?” 

“Hah, yeah well.” Marinette starts, shoving her hands as far in her pockets as she can. “Alya was Ladybug, plus I don't mind the cat.”

 

“Don’t mind him? Hero of Paris?” Adrien laughs. “What makes you say that?”

 

“Well he walked me home last night, but he’s quite the chatterbox don’t you know?” Marinette chances a smile and gives Adrien a look out of the corner of her eye. He returns it, albeit with a smirk that makes her blood rush to her face. 

 

“No, unfortunately I’ve never been able to make his acquaintance.” Adrien is a little dramatic, he puts his hand over his heart and gives a large frown.

 

“Here I was thinking you’d want to be meeting Ladybug.” she laughs.

 

“Ladybug?”  he asks. Marinette points to the flowers in his hand and he gives them a shocked look before holding them up sheepishly. “Oh.. yeah well i was hoping to give these to her in person. But-” he looks around the night sky as if her alter ego was going to swing in at any moment. “With all the people around it's unlikely I’ll be able to see her.”

 

Marinette feels herself blush, 

 

“Maybe one day.” 

 

They’re conversation dies, Marinette stands watching the people move around her and the situation hits her. Everyone around her was here for her… well some may have been dragged here, and some might be here for the drinks, but an entire day was dedicated to just her and her partner. She might as well bother showing up. 

 

“Hey, Adrien?”

 

“Hu-yeah? What’s up?” he looks startled, 

 

“It’d be super awesome to hang out again, but right now I gotta go catch up with some people… Is… Is that cool?”

 

“Yeah! Of course!” he says, “Yeah let’s hang out soon. Do you, hah, do you want my number?”

 

“Oh!” Marinette laughs to herself, and types her number into his phone while he does the same with hers. 

 

“I’ll… see you later?” he asks. 

 

“Yeah…” she replies and starts making her way back towards the stage. 

 

Marinette finds her way behind the stage, ducking between two gigantic speakers the size of standard doors. 

 

When she opens up her purse, she finds nothing.

 

“Tikki?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think! Next chapter is already in the works.


	3. Whats cooler than being cool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its party time... still and everyone is gettin down. Will Marinette be able to a warmth in the chill of the night, or will no one get through to her Eis cold heart?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So little time to do what I want. So much time to do what i avoid.
> 
> Also the chapter summary sounds like some stuff you'd hear at the beginning of the bachelor

“Oh my god! Tikki!” 

Whatever ounce of determination Marinette had on her way over vanishes in under a second. Her whole body immediately goes terribly terribly cold like every single drop of blood has left her. 

Embarrassingly enough her first idea has he dropping to her knees and crawling hand over hand through the cold wet grass. She catches a few odd looks as she makes her way around the stage and into the general area, but she keeps her head down and combs through the grass as if her kwami just fell from her bag. As she combs her way through the group of people dancing in front of the stage frustrated tears well up in the corner of her eyes. 

“Tikki?” she whisper yells, even though she could very well be shouting without risk of anyone hearing her… including her Kwami.

There's a small nibble of self loathing growing in the back of her head. A voice insisting that the absence of her Kwami is a result of her negligence. Which Tikki would smile at, and try not to tell her it's a silly thing to think. But the voice in her head is much lower than the ladybugs voice, and much more cruel.

“Girl.” she hears in a voice she unfortunately recognizes. When she looks up Alya is standing arm-in-arm with Nino, looking down on her and smiling quite smugly. “What in the world are you doing?” Alya reaches down and coaxes her to stand up. Marinette isn’t in the cooperative mindset, and fights her for a couple seconds before finally deciding to explain herself. 

“Listen I know crawling on the ground is weird and all but I lost something and I really can’t spend a lot of time not looking for it it’s very-” before she can finish her sentence she hears everyone around her lose their minds screaming. When she looks up Chat Noir is bounding in, making a beeline for the stage from the building across the street. Alya seems distracted enough, so Mari takes her chance to scoot away as the people behind them push in closer, hoping to get a better view of Chat being his normal flamboyant self. 

She makes it to the bar her and Alya were waiting at earlier, and of course, finds nothing. If it is possible for her to get even more panicked, she does. The loud shouting of the crowd and whatever her partner is saying loudly into the mic presses into her ears and slows her train of thought significantly. Every time she turns her head she’s expecting to see Tikki somewhere, but of all the bright red she see’s none of it is the actual Ladybug.

The second scenario her brain manages to sludge through is the tempting flowers surrounding the statue. Marinette, having adopted some qualities of her kwami has been trying to avoid smelling them all night; though she doesn’t think Tikki would be irresponsible enough to abandon her, and she really doesn’t want to fight her way through thousands of people packed like sardines just to yell a name at flowers for a couple minutes. 

She presses her fingers to her temples and closes her eyes, first she was with Alya by the stage then she walked to the drink table with Adrien (who held her hand) and she gave him her number and-

He held her hand… one of her hands, because she was holding flowers in the other one. Flowers that Tikki fell asleep in. 

Marinette stands up, holding her purse strap in a deathgrip as she spots the drink table exact opposite of an even more dense crowd. People are surging around the statue with the flowers, probably trampling a few of them, as Chat Noir ‘performs’ on stage. Anything he may be doing is lost on Marinette. 

She starts walking, trying her best to swallow her sense of politeness and just shove people aside. Despite her best efforts- progress is slow and she often loses sight of the table. Nobody seems to want to let her through, but she finally makes it to the statue in the middle when a sudden wave of sadness hits her like a truck.

She closes her eyes, stumbling into the statue and pressing her hand into the flowers. When she opens them most of the crowd is rendered entirely immobile, quite a few even dropping to their knees and every single one of them crying. She can feel her own tears starting to build up. It’s uncontrollable, and it burns. Her eyes are searing and she's forced to blink a few more times and rub the feeling away with her fingers. It's not working, vision bleary, she attempts to keep walking.

Her bouquet is much easier to get to, as she avoids looking at or catching the attention of whatever has affected the rest of the crowd. Repeatedly blinking away tears that feel like rashes down her cheeks slows her significantly. She hears a deafening ring as a microphone drops to the ground. Every step she takes another wave of loneliness and sadness and anger making it harder to take the step after. Like walking along the shore as high tide comes in, her knees feel weak, and her feed slide on the suddenly frosted grass.

“I am Eis, and nobody helped me.” The voice is quiet, but it presses in her ears and she can feel it flow over her as if she’s being covered in cement. 

She keeps walking, tripping over those on the ground and nearly toppling the people still standing. Marinette would rather stop and lay on the ground with the rest of the victims, accept what's happening, scratch the rash on her cheek into blood. The only thing keeping her from stopping is the knowledge that Tikki could be feeling the same thing. 

She stills when a pair of blue feet walk into her view, and slams her eyes shut as they get closer.

“And you should feel the worst of all, Marinette.” it says. 

The akuma isn't touching her, but she feels the cold radiating from the hand placed next to her face. A threat. The tears welling in her eyes break over, and start to flow. Despite the strong depressive feeling pouring wave after wave off of the person in front of her, she knows she isn't crying of her own accord. 

One finger touches her, right on her cheek. It’s freezing and she loses feeling almost immediately, the longer she’s touched the more she can feel frost spreading through her entire body.  
For the first time in a while, she’s absolutely bone-deep terrified. The kind of terror that stops her from breathing even if the akuma were not freezing her head to toe. Panicked, she tries to open her eyes, but they’re stopped halfway.

“Somebody… help?” she asks, her voice weak and wobbly from crying, speech slurred as it gets more difficult for her lips to move. “Please.” 

“What’s the point?” someone on the ground, below her, behind her asks. “Nobody can.”

Just like that, Marinette feels every bit of warmth, energy, and hope drain entirely out of her. 

Nothing matters, and nobody is helping.

“You’ll be alone, like me.” the quiet akuma promises. Marinette can’t get a good look, the burning tears and ice coating her lashes blocking everything except the view of a frost blue wrist with a slate grey bracelet. She closes her eyes, and tried to take a breath, but her lungs wont move.

“Beg to differ!” a loud voice calls. Some kind of force comes flying through the air on her right and the akuma is launched away. The frost leaves her immediately, and she gasps for air, clutching at her chest.

She collapses on the ground, wiping away the Akuma affected tears as well as her own. The gentle but urgent hands of her partner coax her to stand, and when she looks at him a bit of light returns to her. Somehow she cries even more, grabbing the hands holding her shoulders. 

“Oh my god.” she sobs, hanging her head. Her entire form drained, knees so shaky he has to bear her entire weight. “Chat- I thought i was gonna d-”

“Don’t worry about it princess, don’t even think about it.” 

He picks her up, and she wraps as much as herself as she can around him. He feels warm in comparison to the frozen wasteland the park as become. As a result, she finds herself sobbing openly onto his shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry, oh god i- I’m so sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Marinette, that's just the akuma.” She feels him walking, the uneven rhythm implies he’s trying to avoid stepping on people. She refuses to look around, burying her face as far as she can into him.

He starts setting her down and she begins to panic, grabbing onto his wrists desperately and staring into his green eyes.

“Don’t-” she starts demanding, “Don’t.. I-” he sets her quivering form on the grass, and smiles. 

“I’ll be back for you. For now, hide here.” he says. She keeps a steadfast stare on his face, even after he nudges her backwards and shoves her under some kind of opaque plastic. 

As soon as she hears him walk away, the depressing feel of the akuma presses into her, and she hyperventilates.

She feels the frost again, although this time it's of her imagination, paralyzing her all over again.

Something tiny, and warm flies into her face. 

“Marinette! I’m so sorry I was trying so hard to get to you but there were so many people! I was in the flowers and- what's wrong?” 

The girl brings her cupped hand to her cheek and pulls it away to find Tikki sitting on her palm.

“Tikki… I was almost… Is this how everyone else feels? People who aren't Miraculous holders? Is it this scary every time?”

“We need to help Chat Noir.” her kwami insists instead of answering.

“I- I can’t. Marinette says. “It’s too soon.. I need time… I need to think a-and I need-”

“We need to help Chat! I know it's scary but we do this all the time and you always get through it. We always get through it. We’re a team Marinette. Chat Noir and I are going to protect you.” 

Her friend, her gentle but insistent friend, presses her head into Marinette's forehead. It's just enough warmth that Marinette nods, and takes a deep breath. 

“Okay… Okay okay…okay.” she says it once more, twice more, fifteen times more... however many times it takes her to wrap her head around the situation. Tikki waits patiently. “Tikki, spots on.”

As soon as her transformation washes over her she can feel the oppressive feel of the akuma fade. Being so close and trusting with one of her best friends gives her the energy needed to move. 

 

She crawls from her spot to realize that Chat put her under the drink table, and the irony isn't lost on her. 

Now that she had a moment to look around, she notices the effect of the akuma is worse than thought. Their unmoving victims are stuck firmly to the ground by frost and tiny crystalline structures that grow up their forms and eventually form a cocoon around the person.

The less they move, the more frost. The more frost, the less they want to move. 

The akuma brings with it an eerie silence, the same way snow coats a city; a terrible silence has taken over Paris. The only indication of the akumas wearabouts is the direction of the spread of the frost. She follows it, finding only frozen streets and buildings with a silvery shine climbing up the side. All cars have stopped driving, all trains have stopped running, all people have stopped trying, 

The few she passes in the street are alone, and frozen completely over. She brushes her hand over one of the victims, only to nearly get caught herself by the ice. She can still feel the power of the akuma on her cheek, and vibrating in the air around her. 

Ladybug thinks of Chat Noir, and him facing the same thing. 

“CHAT!” she screams. Her voice echoes, and from a couple streets over-

“LADYBUG!”

Using her yoyo, she follows the voice immediately, winding up in a wide street, where the frost comes to a point near two lone figures. 

Chat Noir’s lips have gone blue, his hands are frozen to the side and the akuma has another hand on his ring, 

Anger bristles through her, from the base of her spine to the top of her head, and she swings without even thinking. 

“As if!” she growls as she plants both feet firmly into the akuma’s side and sends them flying into a wall. Her partner’s knees go weak but she catches him before he falls fully down and swings him onto her back. 

He’s freezing, and unpleasant to touch but regardless provides a larger shield that pushes the emotional manipulation of the akuma even further away. 

The akuma themself, though emotionally manipulative and skilled in magic isn't as physically strong, and is easy to corner. Ladybug traps her in a thin alleyway between two buildings. Her opponent doesn't appear to be skilled in any physical way. Not fast, or strong, or acrobatic she resorts to her magic again- But not in the way Ladybug had come to accept.

Eis is freezing herself into place, large stalks of it grow up her legs, her upper body shakes and shivers. Completely cornered, the akuma gives a wail that echoes against the walls of the thin alleyway, and she freezes herself over completely. Stunned, the two heros sit in silence and wait for something to happen.

Nothing does.

Slowly, Ladybug reaches and takes her wristband -unaffected by the ice- and purifies the butterfly that flies out.

The ice around the victim shatters immediately, and she drops to the ground. 

The release of the akuma is usually very stress relieving, a chance to release tension from the fight. The relief of something being finally over. None of that comes. Every bone in Ladybug’s body is still shaking with anger. She wants to hurt Hawkmoth, she wants to take something important away from him. She wants to scare him so badly the fear shakes every nerve.

Her fist clenches. She doesn't feel done. The thoughts get pushed to the back of her mind as Chat climbs off of her back- shaking in every limb- and they both stand silently, waiting for the victim to wake up.

She doesn't. 

Ladybug drops to her knees and rolls ‘Eis’ over; though her skin prickles at the thought of touching her. Eis’ skin, though much better than the powder white before, is still very pale- her lips are blue, and the tips of her fingers are purple. The black ‘Cat Chat’ shirt pops out like a stain on its pale wearer.

“Oh my god…” she whispers. Chat Noir puts his hand over his mouth. Ladybug scoops up the girl and stands. “I’m taking her to the hospital, go back to the victims, make sure they’re okay.”

 

Chat Noir meets her outside of the hospital, nearly ramming into her as she exits the doors, 

“So?” he demands, setting his hands on her shoulders and pulling her from her swirling thoughts. 

“Hypothermia as a result of low blood pressure… She was nearly dead when she was akumatized.” Ladybug says… although it's probably not what Chat was actually asking about. Despite this, she can’t help but continue. “What’s weird is… she remembers it.” Ladybug shivers at the thought, what feels like another layer of ice crawling up her spine. Chat stays silent, but gives her a look that speaks layers. 

“Why.. would he akumatize her?” he sits down in the grass in front of the building and watches cars go by. Ladybug feels so awkward in her own skin she can’t help but drop down beside him, but rests her head on his shoulder, trying to sap whatever warmth she can. Even though the magic is gone, the oppressive feel of the akuma is still around her. She hooks her arm around his, and feels half of her body warm up immediately. 

“She told me that she didn't want it.” She says when she’s finally able to talk past the thoughts of being frozen in her head. “He asked, and she said no… but he akumatized her anyway.”

Despite her talk with the victim, Ladybug still feels anger pushing against her ribs. Anger and fear and sadness, but the anger burns brightest. The akuma almost took her partner away, the akuma almost took her… and for what? She clenches her teeth together. 

“Is that possible?” he asks. Ladybug shrugs in response, Chat Noir rests his head on hers. 

“I don’t know. From how she went… the akuma is probably more volatile but a lot less stable.”

Chat Noir hums, and stares at the road, but offers her no words. The silence grows so strong she feels forced to stand up and break it before more thoughts of being helpless crawl into her brain.

“I’m sorry… that.” she shifts to her other foot, and he looks up at her curiously. “I’m sorry that I- hah. Man, im angry.” she swallows back a couple tears as the image of losing her partner, like time breaker all over again. Could he have been lost forever then? How about now? “I let that happen… to you. I mean. And I. I-I- I should’ve been there.” she wipes the palm of her hand against her cheek. “God, I’m so pissed.” she growls through clenched teeth and tears.

“But you-” he starts.

“I wasn't there when you needed me. I bet it was terrible.”

“I mean… it’s not your fault, My lady.” he stands up to, grabs her hand in his and kisses her knuckles. “Its okay. It’s done now.”

“I guess.” she lies, not feeling as though anything is done at all. “Until next time, chaton.” she pokes his nose. 

“Don’t you want to go back to the party, meet a few fans?” 

“Maybe next time…” It feels like a lie even as its rolling off her tongue.

 

She never goes back to the party, though she can tell it ran right back to its full swing. Marinette, now de-transformed, listens to the fireworks go off from her apartment. Her phone buzzes over and over again, Tikki snores next to a plate of cookies; her window -usually left bare- is covered by a blanket. 

She still feels it, the ice of the akuma crawling its way through her veins. It runs up her spine, across the back of her neck. Of course, she didn’t tell Tikki… But her kwami was old and wise, she probably knew anyway.

The half and half mix of coffee and hot chocolate in her hands is helping somewhat. She sips idly at the foam on the top as her thoughts wonder.

Three light taps come from her window, pulling her from the hospital room where Eis lay, crying her eyes out and pulling at Ladybug’s gloved hands. 

She stands, and walks over, peeking around her window to find two green eyes blinking at her.

Chat Noir… of course.  
She pulls aside the blanket, and after a couple of tries manages to shove open the window. He slinks in and makes himself comfortable on her couch. 

“No wonder I couldn't find you. Hiding away like this.” He says, motioning around.

“It’s not hiding… I’m at home, it’s the first place you’d find me.”

“You never went back.” 

“I’m tired.” she lies.

“You’re window is covered.”

“So?” she retorts, growing agitated at his accusations.

“It’s never covered.” he bites back.

“Do you check?” she demands, not thinking about the implications of her question; Still she lets it hang in the air. His silence tells her the answer, and she notices that in her distraction the coffee mug has burned a slight pink onto her palm. She sets it down and sighs. “I’m not hiding. But I don't know how to act like that didn’t happen.”

Chat Noir doesn't ask what ‘that’ is, instead he bites his lip and looks away. She remembers the akuma starting to freeze him over as well, but she can’t bring it up.

“Oh.” is all he says. Discouraged that he can't even bring himself to try in some way to relate she curls her legs and hugs her knees to her chest. She knows what happened but he won't even try? Maybe it's ridiculous of her to expect pity or comfort. The logical part of her brain is set to the wayside, and she lets herself feel angry.

“Yeah. Oh... Now can you just leave?” She bites her lips, struggling around the lump in her throat. “Use the window or the door… I don’t much care.”

She only starts crying when she hears her window close.

She fights herself over it. On one side, he shouldn't have to tell her what's going on, on the other side he hadn't tried to help her at all.  
‘Oh’  
Why did he even bother showing up if that's all he had?

Despite the lack of akuma she can still feel it's effects. Anger at Hawkmoth, fear of death, the chill from Eis. Most of all comes the terrible loneliness… for that one, she can only blame herself or Chat noir, she cant decide.

Some time- hours or minutes later - she lifts her head and watches the light in the corner of her phone flash green. A message from Alya pops up

‘Hey, hang w u later?’ attached to the messages is a picture of a pink and yellow flower with brown spots. Marinette chuckles, wipes the tears from her eyes with one hand, and quickly reverse google image searches to find out its a Alstroemeria. A flower symbolising ‘Friendship’

It's not like Alya is there with her, it's not as if she's gotten a hug. But the apartment shrinks a little, feels warmer.

‘Duh’ Marinette sends back, and attaches an Anemone. 

She had never really considered flowers meaning anything outside of ‘roses mean love!’ and ‘daisies mean joy!’. What came as even more of a surprise is that some flowers had negative connotations if you bother to look them up. 

Marionette has the creeping feeling that she won't be getting much sleep, and to keep herself from falling back into depression, she might as well do something.

Grinning to herself, Marinette leans and picks up her laptop from the coffee table as an idea hits her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going through beta's like seasoning salt. My current one is AMAZING, but seems to want to remain impersonal, which makes it kind of hard to write. One of the reasons i want a beta is to help motivate me so I have someone to be proud to... "LOOK AT WHAT I MADE!" It will probably get better with time. 
> 
> Tell me what you think about this chapter in the comments I *love* hearing from you guys.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is @Fantau! Feel free to stop by and drop a prompt~


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